Island



"UNITED sTATEs PATENT onirica,

E. H. PERRY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

` MACHINE FOR MAKING CHAIN.

Specification of Letters PatentY No. 210,955, dated July 20, v1858.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, EDWIN H. PERRY, of the city of Providence, in thecounty of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Machines for Making Ornamental Chain fromSheet Metal; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full andeX- act description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making a part of this specication, and to t-he letters ofreference marked thereon.

Figure 1, is an isometrical perspective View of the complete machine andFigs. 2 to 14a inclusive are detail drawings of the parts.

The same letters refer to like parts in all the figures.

In the accompanying drawings, A, (Fig. 1) is the table to which theparts are aiiiXed.

B, is the main shaft from which motion is communicated to the severalparts.

The sheetmet-al from which the chain is to be made having been prepared,it is cut into long and narrow strips of a width just suflicient toobtain the full sized link. I take one of these strips and insert oneend through the split linger a, between t-he guides, b, into the jaws ofthe feed nippers, Fig. 4, on the back side of the machine. Motion beinggiven to the main shaft the following operations ensue: Punch, O, of theform of which the blank link is to be, operated by cam C descendsthrough the cutter underneath the strip of metal and cutting out a blanklink deposits it in a similarly shaped perforation in a carrier, D(Figs. 1, 13) through which it would fall were it not for the presenceof the false bottom plate, (l. Punch, C, then rises out of the cutterand the carrier bearing the blank upon its false bottom moves from underthe cutter toward the plunger E. In the course of the passage of thecarrier in that direction the end of the false bottom plate, (Z, comesin Contact with a second perforated plate, F, (detail Fig. 12) the topof which is on the same level with the top of the false bottom plate,this arrests its further progress, but carrier D still continues itscourse and sliding the blank on to plate F drops it into the cavity, f,in the same (Fig. 12). The shape of cavity, f, corresponds to that ofthe blank 4while its center is pierced With a hole, through the plate,of the same general shape that the chain is to be when formed. Theplunger E, now. descends and lightly taps the blank to insure its beingout of the carrier, then rises and permits the carrier to retreat to itsfirstposition. A pin, d', on the false bottom plate (Fig. 13) comes incontact with the carrier in its retreat which with a stop properlylocated, against which the end of the plate shall strike to prevent itsbeing moved too far by its friction with the carrier insures its safereturn to a proper po sition Linder the perforation in the carrier.

G (Fig. 1 detail Fig. 14) is a sliding' bar having upon its face a die,g, of the form into which the body of the link is to be struck and alsoa hole, L, entirely through it (Fig. 14) large enough to permit thepassage of the plunger E when the link is on the end of it. This plate Gis so op erated by the bell crank-connecting links 1, 1, and cam H onthe main shaft that the hole, 7L, and die, g, are alternately placeddirectly under the plunger E.

The blank link having been deposited in the cavity, f, in plate F asabove described and the carrier returned to place the die, g, in plate G(Fig. 14) is first brought in line underneath, and the plunger, E,descends again and forces the body of the blank only through the cavity,f, into the die and strikes it up leaving the arms of the blank inconsequence turned up and pressed hard against the plunger they beingencircled by the sides of the perforation through which the body of thelink has been driven. The perforated plate F is attached to the arm Fwhich is pivoted at I so that as the plunger E rises after the operationjust described plate F may also rise with it and hold the link on to theend of the plunger. In this way I am enabled with certainty to lift theblank after it has been struck up out of the die withoutl which themachine would be inoperative. The plunger E having risen carrying thelink on its end held there as described the cam Hmoves the sliding bar,G, and brings the hole, it, Fig. 14 in line underneath the plunger. Theplunger E now for the third time descends farther than before and forcesthe blank entirely through the perforation, f, Fig. 12 in plate F andalso entirely through the hole, it, in the sliding bar G down into thegrasp of an upright spring tube (not represented in Fig. 1 but shown indetail in Figs. 11, 11a) where the link( is taken off as the plungerwithdraws, and there retained.

At some time previous to the final descent of the plunger the formingtube is rotated by means of a pawl (Fig. 5) acting upon a ratchet wheel,Fig. 9, attached to the tube arranged as shown in Fig. 1, such afractional part of a circle as is necessary in order to make the arms ofthe succeeding link when deposited in the end of the tube interlock withthe arms of the first, which extent of rotation is determined by thenumber of teeth in the wheel and must bear a relation to the number ofarms which the link employed may have. As the plunger E is wit-hdrawnafter its third descent as above described a second blank is presentedby the carrier and the preceding operations are repeated.

The second blank having been deposited in the forming tube with its armsinterlocked with the arms of the first, the bending slides, p, p, p, Fig7. A reciprocating motion being given by a cam L (Fig. 1) through theconnections 3, 3, 3, to the disk plate Fig. 7, located directly underthe plate M (Fig. 1) upon which the bending slides are mounted as shownin Fig. 7a, dart forward toward a common point and entering slitopenings, r, fr, r, (Figs. 2 and 11) in the end of the forming tube,strike against the arms of the under link and bend them over t-owardeach other.

The forming tube (Fig. 11) consists of a simple piece of steel similarin appearance only to those long since used in making chain from sheetmetal by hand, it has a hole through its axis for the chain as made topass into the receptacle for it underneath the machine its upperextremity is slit down to the extent of an inch, more or less, the slitsbeing of sufficient width to permit the points of the bendings slides toenter freely. The tube is also split down s, s, s (Fig. 11) to theextent of an inch and one half more or less between the slits and theend so formed is brought to a spring temper. A simple contracting collaror ring, O, (Fig. 11a) is placed over the end of the tube by pressingwhich down (the shape of the upper end of the tube being conical or byadjusting its position by a screw) the fiexible spring ends of the tubecan be brought together and the link be taken from the end of theplunger E as by a pair of spring pincers and held there with as firm agrip as is desired. No contrivances whatever' for bending the arms arenecessary to be placed within the tube, and all devices for holding theupper link in place during the operation of bending` the arms of thenext preceding link are dispensed withthe functions of my improved tubebeing to take each link off the end of the plunger and hold it firmly asit would be heldV by the human fingers while the arms of the nextpreceding link are being bent over it-while the firmness of the grasp ofthe spring fingers can be adjusted at will and the chain in consequencebe woven more or less compactly.

I do not wish to limit myself to the particular form of the perforatedplate F (Fig. 12) whose sole office is tohold the link after it isstruck up upon the end of the plunger to enable the blank to bewithdrawn from the die and be deposited elsewhere, as the same resultcan be accomplished without changing the principles of this part of myinvention, by the use of a pair of spring nippers acting independent-lyof the plunger, or with it, which can be made to pick up the link out ofthe die and drop it in position to be thrust into the tube. The methodhowever, which, I have described I consider the best and simplest toeffect the purpose necessary.

I do not claim the combination of a carrier on which the blank link istransported, a die or perforated plate by which the arms of the linksare bent inward and a forming guide or tube in which the chain is heldand transmitted as such combination is covered by the patent grantedheretofore to Lauriston Towne Oct. 2O 1857. But

lVhat I do claim as my invention and de sire to secure by Letters Patentis- 1. The perforated plate F Fig. 12, or its equivalent, in combinationwith a former for striking up the body of the link, the two so combinedperforming the function of enabling the link after it is struck up inthe die to be lifted out of the same for the purpose of being depositedin the next position necessary in the formation of thechainsubstantially as described.

2. I claim the arrangement of the slides 77, y), y) for bending over thearms of each link after it has been struck up in the die.

3. I claim constructing the end of the tube wherein the chain is formed,in the manner substantially as described, so that it shall be enabled toperform the function of grasping the link when deposited in it, andretaining it, at the same time holding it firmly in place while the armsof the under link are being bent over it, as set forth.

4. In combination with said tube I claim the adjustable contractingcollar Fig. 11a for the purpose of regulating the degree of resistancewhich must be overcome in forming the chain by means of which the chaincan be at pleasure woven more or less compactly as set forth.

Providence J une 10, 1858.

EDVIN H. PERRY.

lVitnesses z JOHN GARTLAND, HENRY IV. GARDNER.

